Venmo

Rediscovering the Users

Client | VenmoRole | Product Design, UX ResearchType | Product

Venmo has become a popular peer-to-peer payment app. In order to identify the most effective value proposition for each of the user segments and to guide their innovation strategies, I've conduced an analysis on Venmo's value proposition testings and user segmentation research.

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Problem Statement

Venmo needs a clear communication hierarchy for effective marketing, and a new set of personas to drive innovation and future strategies.

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Research Prompts

I performed two different types of user research analysis for Venmo, each with a different purpose.

Research #1 - Qualitative: Which Venmo value propositions resonate well with whom?

Research #2 - Quantitative: Who are the people that use Venmo? What are they like?

Research #1 - Which Venmo value propositions resonate well with whom?

ProcessSynthesis by value proposition types

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Four value propositions have been tested.

The four value propositions were Fun & Social, Control, Ease & Convenience, and Safety. Fun & Social was the most effective value proposition overall, but it posed an interesting dilemma where it also performed the most poorly among some people, based on their segments.

Affinity diagramming

I've analyzed the research done by The Sound using affinity diagram. It helped Venmo understand how the current-users and non-current users differ in their financial behaviors and what they expect from Venmo as a financial platform.

1. Fun & Social

Value proposition prompt:"Venmo removes the awkward moment of asking someone to pay you back and lets you share and enjoy what your friends have been up to."

2. Control

Value proposition prompt:"Venmo allows you to keep track of what you owe, what friends owe you, and what you've bought, so you can feel in control and have peace of mind about your money."

3. Ease and Convenience

Value proposition prompt:"Venmo is faster and easier so you don't have to worry about writing checks, IOUs or pulling out your wallet every time."

Research #2

Who are the people that use Venmo? What are they like?

Consumer segmentation research is based on quantitative data points. Venmo conducted interviews with over 1,000 interviewees on their preferences towards a set of fintech features that came up in a sprint session.

I analyzed the raw data and charts to elaborate on the five consumer segments which were derived from PayPal's Consumer Segmentation Research 2016, and synthesized on their financial personalities to develop a customized Venmo's core personas in the future, and to decide on Venmo's future product development strategies.

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Process: Quantitative Data Synthesis

Base Demographics EstablishmentVenmo has established a basic set of facts about the five segments they used prior to the quantitative interview. The initial five segments were derived from PayPal's Consumer Segmentation Research 2016. I have written key facts about these segments and started an affinity diagram.

Fintech feature catalog

These 36 fintech features were selected for interviewing. They were brainstormed during Venmo's design sprint session, in an effort to determine future product innovation strategies.

Data management

Interview responses were recorded on a scale of 1-7, with 1 being low engagement and 7 being high engagement. Over thousand responses were recorded.

Response graphing

I proceeded with pattern analysis. Our team has graphed the responses with features on the x-axis and the engagement points on the y-axis, and with each line representing the segmentation we initially defined.

The most exciting part of this analysis, which also yielded the most valuable insight was to identify the deviations from the common pattern, and to track down why those deviations were happening, and who the people were that caused the deviation.